“Uh-huh,” Teri said, taking a step toward the house. She wasn’t sure what was going on here, but it didn’t seem like anything she wanted to be a part of. This wasn’t a Hertz employee who’d fallen asleep in the trunk by accident. This was something else. The sooner she could get the kids inside, the better.

“Stop right there,” the guy said, his voice coming out sharp. They all froze. He nodded toward the yellow car. “Get in.”

“Oh,” Teri said, grabbing Parker’s hand and taking another step toward the house. “We’d rather not, actually.”

The guy sighed and set down the tire iron. Teri started to breathe a little easier, but then he reached behind him and pulled a gun out of his waistband.

“Cool,” Daryl said.

“Not cool,” Chris snapped. Parker whimpered and gripped Teri’s hand hard.

“I’m not asking,” the guy said, pointing the barrel of the gun at the yellow car. “Let’s go. Now.”

CHAPTER 12

Kat

I walked out onto the street and fell into step with the crowd, heading away from the subway station. I needed to get to Tenth Avenue, and the street in front of me was Fifth. I was already on Forty-Second, and I knew that was the right street for the theater district, so I figured I’d just stay on this street until I got to Tenth.

Buoyed by this plan, I crossed with the rest of the crowd at the crosswalk, even though the light hadn’t changed. None of those people seemed to care, though, so I just put my shoulders back like I was one of them and hurried across the street.

As I walked, I stuck my hands in my pockets, wishing that my gloves had made it into the city with me. When Stevie and I were together and only one of us had gloves, we always split the pair and put the other hand in our pockets.…